Archeologists Unearth A Lost Roman Town In Bishop's Stortford

A vanished Roman settlement reappears beside Stane Street – and it is far bigger than anyone expected. Then the Tower of London reveals how Henry VIII turned silver into scandal. From a possible roadside temple and a cemetery far larger than predicted, to a lion’s head fitting and a mirror fragment, the Bishop’s Stortford dig hints at a full Roman town hiding in plain sight. In Kent, a Tudor ship preserved in shingle is taken apart plank by plank, its Kentish oak dated with dendrochronology and its tar still detectable. Beneath the Tower, assay furnaces, crucibles and tiny cupels expose the trick that earned Henry the nickname Old Coppernose. In Cookham, an Anglo-Saxon road and an inkwell shard point to a lost monastery tied to Queen Cunethryth. And in Dorset, Durotriges burials and a spectacular mirror challenge who held power in the Iron Age. Discover how these finds connect – and what we still don’t know. Watch the full episode for the dates, methods, and the moment the past clicks into place. #DiggingForBritain #Archaeology #RomanBritain #TudorHistory #HenryVIII #AngloSaxon #IronAge #Shipwreck